Hate to love you
by isabella567
Summary: Cato corners Katniss while she's training. Invades her private space, and kisses her. The thing is though, they're going into the arena tomorrow and with Katniss' promise to Prim...How will they be together? Or maybe they never will be...
1. Chapter 1

Hate To Love You

Chapter 1: KATNISS POV

I was up late; I can't see how they expect us to sleep, with the midnight parades and all.

My name is Katniss Everdeen, and I'm a tribute in the 74th annual Hunger Games.

The games start tomorrow, and last night at the interview, Peeta, the boy from my district, confessed his long time "crush" on me on National television.

I pushed him. It was a dumb move on his part, how could I play this, "star-crossed lovers" role with someone I was supposed to kill?

Not that I'll ever love someone, not in this cruel world.

Loving leads to marriage, and marriage leads to children.

_Children…_

How could one have kids, the fear of them turning 12, when they'll be eligible for the reaping?

How could someone have children knowing they'll starve…how could they? They're basically raising a kid for slaughter.

I shake away the thought.

Realizing I'll never sleep tonight, I decide to sneak down to the training center, to shoot some arrows.

I sneak out of my room and pass Peeta's.

I think I hear a soft cry but decide to ignore it. He's not worth it.

I continue taking the elevator down to the basement which is the training center.

When the doors open, much to my delight, the center is empty.

I walk swiftly to the bow and arrow on the rack.

I take a deep breath and shoot the arrow towards the target.

Bull's-eye.

I shoot arrow after arrow, all of them hitting bull's-eye.

"Nice shot, Fire-girl." A voice says behind me.

I turn to see the district 2 career, Cato.

"What is it, two?" I ask slightly annoyed.

"Just heard somebody in here, and it just happened to be you…the person I was most anxious to meet." He said smirking slightly.

"Why is it that you wanted to meet me, Two?" I ask gripping my bow tightly.

"I knew I had to talk to you, see how you got that Eleven, but it looks like I just found out…" his arrogant smirk is getting larger…._dumbass._

"You don't know half of how I got that eleven," I say giving him the same smirk.

"Oh?" He's moving closer now, and before I know it, we're only inches apart.

"_Enlighten _me…" Cato says, taking another step.

"I don't think so," I start, "besides; it's none of your business."

"Oh, really," Cato says, "I was just going to offer you a part in the careers."

There. I knew something was up.

I don't even know how to react. But before I can even think…Cato pushes me against the wall hard, almost knock the wind out of me.

"What the—" I start, but I'm cut off by Cato.

He snatched my bow and throw it to the opposite side of the room.

"How's it going with Lover boy?" He leans in so his mouth is close to my ear.

Oh right.

_Peeta._

"You mean Peeta?" I ask.

"Yeah, Lover boy." Cato responds. I now see that Cato, has the exact blond hair, AND blue eyes as Peeta.

"I don't know….I Guess I don't feel anything towards him." I shock even myself with that one.

Cato, for a split second, seems almost satisfied.

"Good. We don't need a love sick puppy in our ranks."

"Ha, I never said I was joining you." I smirk.

"You will, though." Cato says with his arrogant smirk.

"Why?" I ask, noticing we're still in this very intimate position.

"Because of this…" Cato does the unthinkable.

He kisses me softly on my lips.

I'm too shocked to kiss him back.

Finally, I regain my senses and push him away.

"What the hell, Cato?" I scream at him, pounding my hands on his chest.

It probably hurt me more than him, considering he's all muscle.

He grabs my arms and holds them over my head.

"You're mine…" He says kissing me again.

I'm completely at his mercy.

No bow.

No self defense.

I kiss him back.

Our tongues danced for dominance.

A soft moan escapes me.

I actually found myself _enjoying _the kiss.

He let go of my arms to put his arms around my waist. But I don't care, I am too heated.

I move my now free arms around his neck.

He breaks the kiss, and starts kissing my neck.

I moan and gasp at the same time.

I'm so into this.

He starts sucking on the same spot and I find it hard to keep myself under control.

After what seemed like hours of pleasure, I finally stopped him.

"Cato, stop…" I whimpered. He chuckles and kisses my neck, then my jaw, and back up to my mouth.

"You don't have to tell me tonight, if you join us, which you will, survive the bloodbath at the cornucopia. Then stay afterward, we're aiming to get all the supplies and weapons."

I nod my head in response.

"See you tomorrow, Fire girl" he says turning to leave.

"Yeah, it's Katniss!" I scream after him, still mad at him for calling me Fire girl.

"See you tomorrow, Katniss." He smirks at me.

I shake my head, what have I just gotten myself into?

Long after Cato left I made my way back to the penthouse.

Reaching my floor, I snuck off the elevator and into my room.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

"Wake Up; we have a BIG day, today!" I hear Effie banging on my door.

I groan, and put the pillow over my head.

She then barges in my room and opens the curtains, letting in all the sunlight.

"UP!" she screams once again, before slamming the door loudly.

I hear her waking Peeta up now.

I sigh and swing my feet over the edge of the bed.

Looking in the mirror, I see my wavy brown hair hanging over my shoulders.

I hate when it does this, makes me feel weak.

Quickly, I braid it back into my signature one braid.

Now that my hair is off my shoulders I notice the 'mark' Cato left from last night.

My eyes widened.

Today's the day…I have to make my choice today at the cornucopia.

I try my best to hide it at the breakfast table, but nothing goes unnoticed by Haymitch.

"What's that?" Haymitch asked, pointing directly at my neck.

"Nothing, Haymitch, you're drunk…just drop it."

"I know a love bite when I see it, sweetheart." Haymitch says taking a sip of liquor.

I see him wink at Peeta, who looks awkwardly at me.

Cinna, seems to be the only one not to buy it.

Hours Later:

"Stay away from the Cornucopia, it's a bloodbath, they're trying to pull you in…it's not your game." Haymitch tells me. I debated rather or not to tell him about Cato's offer.

I decide not to.

Cinna is the last person I see before I am launched into the arena.

He puts my jacket on, and I notice the Mockingjay Pin.

He puts his finger to his mouth, signaling me to keep quiet about it.

"Thank You" I whisper sadly. He's been my only friend here, and now I may never see him again.

We put our heads together as if we're doing some sort of silent prayer.

"I'm Not allowed to bet," He says, "But if I could I'd bet on you."

I nodded my head in thanks.

I'm scared to death. But I can't let my fear show.

I hear a monotone voice saying that all tributes should be in the tubes, ready for launch.

I walk slowly to the tube, once inside the glass starts to close around me.

I take one last glance a Cinna, he nods his head. That means the world to me right now.

The last thing I see is Cinna's trusting eyes, before the bottom slowly begins to push me up.

Once I'm on the pad, I see the cornucopia.

I see a lake to my left; I see a forest to my right.

I look around me; I see all 23 other tributes gathered equal distance away from the cornucopia.

I lock eyes with Cato; he smirks and nods his head.

I turn away and locate Peeta whose four people away to my right.

He shakes his head. What's that supposed to mean?

Could he have known about Cato's plan and he's trying to warn me?

5…

I look at Cato.

4….

I Look back at Peeta.

3…..

I look at the cornucopia.

2….

I think, could this be a trap?

1….

No time to think…

I run as fast as I could to the cornucopia, I couldn't stand leaving with nothing.

I spot an orange bag lying at the mouth of the cornucopia.

I make a run for it.

A District 5 boy reaches it at the same time as I do. And we struggle.

Suddenly he stops and coughs blood. I look at him shocked.

Then I notice the knife in his back. The district 2 girl, she never misses.

He falls down.

She throws two knives my way…

That's when I realize…something's seriously wrong…I dodge them quickly looking for Cato, no sign of him.

That's when it hit me; there was never an alliance…

I've been played…


	2. Chapter 2

Hate To Love You

Chapter 2

Katniss POV:

_There was never an alliance…_

_I've been played…._

As soon as I realize that Cato had just been trying to get under my skin, I ran.

Never looking back; the orange bag was over my shoulders, and I knew I needed to put as much distance between myself and the other tributes as possible.

Going deeper into the forest, I figured it would be best to stop running soon. I didn't want to dehydrate myself even more.

I felt my chest growing tighter and it began to get harder to breathe so I slowed my running down to a jog. I couldn't stop running until I was sure I was safe, that I was far enough from _Cato_ and his allies.

I'm starting to lose my breath, and my jog slows down to a fast walk, the pain in my chest is getting almost unbearable.

The sad thing is: I wasn't sure if the pain in my chest had been from the running or from Cato's betrayal…

I decided it was best to push that thought out of my head and focus on running and keeping my breathing as even as possible.

About two minutes later, I decided that I had put enough distance between myself the other tributes, and I stopped to take a rest, I sat behind a tree and began to unzip the orange bag I grabbed at the cornucopia…hoping that the capitol was generous enough to put at least some form of a weapon in here.

_Ha, _who am I kidding? The capitol is _never_ generous…

_The Cornucopia_

Cato POV:

I was getting angrier by the minute! She freaking ditched me! Damn, now I have to snap her _pretty_ little neck…

I had already checked _all _the dead bodies plenty of times to make sure she hadn't died. But there was no sign of _Katniss_, and it's killing me!

I'm on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum right here in the arena.

I barely see Clove smirking at me as I check the dead bodies a _fourth _time.

"Cato? What are you doing? This is like the third time you checked the bodies."

"_Fourth_, it's the fourth time," I say and her eyes narrow suspiciously.

"Just what are you looking for…?" She says looking at me intensely.

"_Katniss_," I murmured, but I don't think she heard me.

"I'm sorry who?" She says clearly getting irritated at my strange behavior.

"_FIREGIRL!"_ I yell this time and my outburst makes Marvel, Glimmer, and the district 4 female tribute to look at me like I'm crazy.

I glare at them.

"What?" I taunt them, and they quickly look away.

I don't know why I screamed, some part of me was hoping that she'd hear me and know I was coming after her, but then the other part, the more dominate side, was hoping that she'd hear me and come running back to us…to _me._

"Oh, _her,_ Cato…I scared her off for you," Clove said looking at me.

_What the hell_? I thought.

"What the hell Clove? You _knew_ I wanted her in the alliance! I freaking told you from the beginning you dipshit!" I was getting ready to charge at Clove, I'm completely throwing my temper tantrum now.

But luckily Marvel stopped me, _thank god_. I didn't want to do anything stupid, _yet_.

I was trying to fight my way out of his grasp, but decided to just calm down…I'd figure this out somehow.

"I'm fine now, Marvel. Thanks man." I give him a nod as he finally lets me go.

"Cato—" Clove starts.

"Shut it, I don't want to hear from you yet." I say rather harshly.

I walk away, headed towards the lake, my fists baled up.

"We're going hunting tonight…" I say to them, my back still facing them.

I could just imagine the looks on their faces…they already think I'm crazy and this just put the icing on the cake.

I went down to the lake and dipped my head in…the waters cool, refreshing…

I decide that I should spend a few minutes here…just to calm myself down.

My alone time is interrupted by the careers coming to join me.

But this time we have one extra tribute, _lover boy..._

"He wants in." Clove says looking me directly in the eyes.

I laugh…

"_You,_ in the careers? Two words…_Hell no_." I say slowly.

I turned around and was about to tell someone to kill him when, he said something that made my face light up.

"I want to help you look for Katniss. After you find her, you're free to kill me." Lover boy says and it's hard for me to say no.

"How'd you know we're after her?" I asked folding my arms.

"Heard you screaming her name, bet she did too."

I stare at him for a moment, trying to detect a lie, but found none.

"Alright, he's in. Any messing around though and I'll kill you on the spot." I say dangerously to him.

Later that night…

Glimmer had gotten dangerously close to me over the past few hours. She said she liked a man with a fiery temper.

Now nightfall, we had already started our hunting. Glimmer and I were holding hands. She waited until the others were ahead of us to kiss me.

I kissed her back hungrily, without hesitation.

She moaned in my mouth and I groaned in response. _Damn_, she may not be as hot as _fire girl_, but she's still hot. I mentally slap myself for that last thought.

Breaking the kiss she asks, "Why don't we just kill him now?"

I kiss her once again.

"No, he's our best chance at finding _her._"

I _know _she's close, I can almost _feel_ her beautiful gray eyes on me as we speak. I grin at the thought, _yes…make her hate me._

Maybe she'll be easier to kill then, I thought bitterly.

Katniss POV: (short)

I'm sitting in a tree, on the verge of falling asleep. Then I see smoke, I peer around the tree and see a fire lit. That's a good way to get killed. I thought bitterly.

Sure enough, I hear screaming coming from that direction.

Then I hear…_laughter?_

I make sure I'm not breathing too heavily when I hear footsteps quickly approaching. There are at least five people headed this way.

I look down and of course, it's the career pack.

But wait…_Peeta_? There goes that pain in my chest that I felt earlier. Peeta betrayed me, just like Cato. Had they been together all along?

Glimmer is clinging on to Cato like he's _her_ man. I feel jealousy rising and I fight the urge to jump down and punch her right there.

But wait, Cato was never mine…and neither was Peeta so I shouldn't care that she's down there holding hands with him.

Glimmer is beautiful, and I'm just _me._ Cato and Glimmer can hold hands all they want, it doesn't bother me.

For some strange reason I felt like I was trying to _convince_ myself that.

Then she _kissed _him!

Disgusting. How could they? Any respect I had for Glimmer flew right out the window with that one. Not that it was much.

"Why don't we just kill him now?" Glimmer asked.

Another kiss.

"No, he's our best chance at finding _her._"

For some reason I knew they weren't talking about the any other girl tributes, they meant _me…_

Cato POV: (again)

Daylight, next day…

I'm getting really sick of lover boy. I'm tired of his moral views and goodness…

We're all walking around near a pond. Glimmer and Clove are behind Marvel, lover boy, and me. The smell of burnt firewood is getting stronger.

I seem to be the only one to notice it though.

Marvel keeps talking about some of the hot girls they have in district 1, including Glimmer.

Lover boy's completely quiet. I'm starting to think that the whole star-crossed lovers was a joke for him…I think he's _gay._

Not that I have a problem with gay people, I just need to be extra cautious…any man as hot as me needs to be. I smirk at myself.

I decide to test my theory.

"So lover boy, I know you have hot girls back at 12, right?"

I say smirking.

"Umm…yeah, we…uh, do." He answers hesitantly.

I smirk even harder.

"Not one as hot as the girl on fire, of course." I say.

Marvel lets out a whistle.

"Yeah, that fire girl is _HOT" _Marvel says.

"I'd do so many things to her…god, _no one_ in district 1 is as hot as her." He continues.

"Hell yeah," I agree laughing.

Lover boy tightens his jaw and he looks angry. He looks ready to snap.

Hmm…maybe I'm wrong; he's definitely got a thing for her…

"Hey look, there she is!" Marvel says to the group and I find myself running after her.

She looks startled for a moment but then quickly gets out the water and runs into a tree. The whole career pack is following quickly on her tail.

We crowd the tree she's in.

"How's it going with you?" she called from the tree calmly. I smirked, that girl has guts.

"Good, what about you fire girl?" something flashed in her eyes when I called her fire girl, and I remember she hates that name.

"Bit warm for my taste, but the air's better up here, Why don't you come on up?"

"Think I will…" My gaze never leaves her face. When our eye's met it was like a conversation.

_I told you to stay…_I think hoping she'll somehow understand.

She does, is it me or does the fact that we can have silent conversations a bit weird?

_I did, your partner attracted me! _I was hoping that I wasn't just imagining this.

_I took care of her…just come back to us to me…_

Her eyes widened for a moment…yup, she understood me just fine.

_Go away! You have Glimmer…_ now it's my turn to look shocked.

_You saw…_

_Damn right, I trusted you. _ The look in her eyes was one of hurt in betrayal.

She really trusted me.

I hadn't even realized I had been climbing the tree until I hit the ground hard.

Glimmer got pissed and tried to shoot her bow and missed miserably.

I was pissed too. Fire girl showed me up, again!

"Give me that!" I didn't know what I was doing could I really kill her?

The answer came when I shot the bow terribly.

"Throw a knife Clove!" Marvel shouted.

"And miss terribly? Not a chance."

"We should just wait, I mean she's got to come down some time, either that or starve to death." Lover boy said.

"He's right. Somebody make a damn fire."

_HOURS LATER NIGHTFALL_:

Everyone had fallen asleep, even Glimmer who was supposed to be keeping watch.

Katniss was still in the tree. I could tell she wasn't asleep.

I unzipped my sleeping bag carefully and tip toed to the tree.

"Katniss?" I whispered.

I saw movement and then I was looking at her beautiful gray eyes again.

"I'm coming up." I said to her.

I started to climb again, careful this time, until I reached the branch that Katniss was on.

"Hi." I said lamely.

She stared at me before mumbling a 'hey' back.

"What is it Cato?" She asked quickly getting to the point.

"You left. I told you to stay at the cornucopia." I replied simply.

"Only because that girl with the knives attacked me!" Her voice was upset and she was doing her best to keep quiet.

"I know, but you could've found me."

"I tried, Cato, you were no where in sight."

I was silent for a second before I decided what to say.

"When you left…I was a nervous wreck…I checked all the dead bodies four times trying to see if you died. Then when Clove said she scared you away, I threw a temper tantrum."

Katniss chuckled.

"You're kind of too big to be doing that, Cato." She said to me looking me in the eyes. I'm just now noticing that her eyes aren't just gray…if you look very closely it looks like a spec of green and blue too.

Her eyes are truly beautiful. I shake away the thought…

"Hey, what can I say big Cato is used to getting what he wants…" I say smirking.

She stops for a moment as if she's trying to decide what to say next.

"And what is it that you want?" she asks as if she's afraid to say the answer.

I stare at her for a moment; her eyes were staring at me intensively almost as if she could _read _me. I met her gaze and I found myself lost in the stormy pool of her eyes…

Her eyes were a beautiful mystery to me…like something just barely out reach, somewhere I knew that deep down I wanted to solve that mystery and hold on to her secrets forever…never letting go. I knew that if I lied she would be able to tell and I would feel guilty looking up into her eyes...since we seem to be able to have silent conversations…I knew it would be best if I told the truth…I decided I wanted to _solve_ that stormy mystery and hold all it's secrets with me…

"_You…" _I say andher eyes widened in shock as I lean in and press my lips to hers….

**First off I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, it really keeps you going. I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF MY READERS! BUT I LOVE MY _REVIEWERS _MORE!**

**I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER! IT'S A BIT LONGER THAN THE LAST. SORRY I'M SO HYPER AND I HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN TO SLEEP YET! IT'S _5:09pm_ HERE! I'VE BEEN UP ALL NIGHT, LOL!**

**NEXT CHAPTER IS THE _TRACKER JACKER SCENE_. IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS I'D _LOVE_ TO HEAR THEM!**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, PLEASE!**

**UNTIL NEXT TIME!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hate To Love You

Chapter 3

**-Cato POV:**

"_You…" I say and her eyes widened in shock as I lean in and press my lips to hers._

Our lips meet for the second time in both of our lives. I must say, I do enjoy the second more than the first. Probably because I know that this may be the last time I have to kiss her, ever. She kisses me back almost instantly, and once again I am thrown into a whirlpool of emotions.

Our kiss is slow and passionate, lips moving as one.

I've been with plenty of girls, that was not an issue, but it was something about Katniss that made me _want_ her.

All of her.

Something about her made me want to _love _her…if I could.

I break the kiss and I rest my forehead against hers. We are both breathing heavily.

I take this moment to notice her skin; it looked beautiful in the moonlight.

"You look…Beautiful." I say to her, rubbing my thumb across her cheek. God, this felt weird, but at the same time, it also felt _right._ Almost like it was meant to be.

She let out a small laugh.

"Thanks. You look…handsome too, Cato." She said shyly.

I laughed.

"Well, I know I look handsome, I always do." I give her a "charming" smile, and that seems to have done the trick. Katniss smirks and leans in to kiss me again.

**-Katniss POV:**

I kiss him again.

I know that this whole thing is wrong. Everything.

But that's what makes this whole thing intriguing. I know I am selfish, I am stubborn, and I ruin _everything_. I ruined what Haymitch and Peeta worked hard to build, like the "star-crossed lovers" act.

Now all of Panem knows about Cato and me.

I can't help but wonder how Prim is taking all of this…I told her I would try to win, but it seems like I've done everything to insure my imminent death.

The thought of Prim gives me a familiar pain in my chest and I find it hard to continue the kiss.

I pull back and look down. Cato looks like he wants to protest but I shake my head letting him know that _now_ is not the time.

"What's wrong?" He asks me. I want to tell him, I really do, but something tells me he won't understand. He wants me to join the alliance, I know that.

_Prim._

Every time I want to just give in to Cato, I remember my precious little sister Prim.

I wonder if Prim would want me to join Cato. But right now I don't really seem to have a choice.

Unless…

"I won't be joining you…" I say aloud and mentally slap myself.

Cato looks at me in shock at first, then his face transform to something else completely…

I almost think for a second that it would be safer if I jump down from the tree and make a run for it. Then again that's suicide, but so is this.

I sit there for a moment, taking in his every move. His face is red and he has his fists bald up. For a second, I almost think he'll start throwing a temper tantrum right here in the tree, but that of course would blow his cover with the rest of the careers.

"Why not?" he asks, his jaw tight as if he's biting his tongue.

"There's no easy way to say this," I start, "You know the small girl, Rue? She…I think I want to ally with her instead."

"No." he says simply.

"I wasn't asking, Cato." I say to him my eyes never leaving his.

"I won't let you! If you leave with her I won't hesitate to _kill_ either of you…" His voice is rising and I almost think he'll start screaming and wake up the careers below us.

I sit there startled. He'd kill _me_ if I allied with Rue? Is any of our love _real_? Or am I just another part of _his _Games?

Shockingly, I found myself thinking about what Peeta had said to me the night before the games on the roof…

"_If I die, I want to still be me…"_ Peeta said that to me, before I had even met Cato in the Training Center that night. Now, as I look back I think that Peeta was sending me a message. He didn't want _me _to change because of the Games, even if he wasn't capable of not changing himself. He joined the Careers, hence showing that he _did_ change…so he only said that to try and help me, because apparently, _"I have no idea the effect I can have."_

Then it hits me…

"Do you have younger siblings Cato?"

**-Cato POV:**

"_Do you have younger siblings Cato?"_

That definitely took me by surprise. Truth is; I have two younger siblings, Casey and Cade.

My little sister, Casey is nine years old, and my little brother, Cade, is thirteen.

Honestly, I would die for them, even if they do annoy me.

"Two," I say, "One brother who's thirteen, and a sister, who's nine." I don't know why I'm even telling her this; we're supposed to be sworn enemies…

She gets closer to me.

"Cato, I want you to listen to me, _don't_ say anything until I'm done."

I find it hard to protest, so I nod my head in response.

"I'm going to ally myself with Rue, and—"

I Huff in response.

"Listen, Cato." She says sternly.

"How would you feel if one of your siblings were in the games, small, vulnerable and all alone?"

I looked down. I would _die_ if that happened to one of them.

"I couldn't…" I start but decide it's better to not finish my sentence; she seems to have understood what I mean.

"Exactly. I volunteered for my little sister Prim…I couldn't let her go into _this; _she wouldn't have made it passed the bloodbath. I tried to protect her from so much. I mean, she's afraid of almost everything…how could I let her walk to her death? I left her at home, where she's _safe_. Now seeing Rue here, it makes my heart ache, she reminds me of Prim, I can't let her do this alone."

I take in her every word.

"Katniss, do you hear yourself? I understand you want to help her but even if she did make it that far, she'd have to die eventually…and from what I know, you'll get too attached and you'll be broken when she dies. Think only of yourself, Katniss."

She snorts. "Say's the boy who made an alliance with the careers…"

"That's different; we don't give a damn about each other." I say waving her off.

"So, why did you want me in this alliance, again?"

"You're different!" I said as loudly as I could without waking the sleeping careers below.

"How?" She said crossing her arms.

"You're mine, that's how."

"Then do this for me, Cato. Think of your brother and sister, how would they feel if you let the Games _change _you? Let me help her…"

I look at her, my gaze softening. She has a point. I might have to give in to her.

"Okay," is all I manage to get out, "but how are you going to get away without someone seeing you?"

"Tracker Jackers. Rue pointed them out to me. I'm going to cut the nest down."

"What? Hell no, I'm not going to let you do this, you'll get killed!"

She put her finger over my lips. "Sshh…trust me, okay?" she says to me.

I nod.

"I'm cutting it down at sunrise when I can see better, I want you to go to the lake. Make up an excuse or something, just get out."

"Just be careful, night Katniss." I say giving her one last glance before I turn to jump out the tree.

"Goodnight Cato."

**-Katniss POV: (Short)**

I woke up with a start and looked down at the ground from the tree I was in.

Cato had already disappeared to the lake.

The sun was just about to rise from behind the trees. I knew I didn't have much time, it was now or never.

I began to climb to the highest branch where the nest was hanging.

As I got closer, I could make out the low humming sound of the Tracker Jackers.

I took a deep breath and began sawing at the branch the nest was hanging from.

Blisters began to form on my hand from gripping the knife too hard in this uncomfortable position.

The harder I began to saw at the branch the louder the humming became. By this point though, the blisters on my hand have started to burst and peel off, leaving aggravated red skin, but I still kept sawing.

When I'm about halfway, I get a sting right on my hand; the next quickly follows on my neck. I almost scream in pain but instead I bite down on my lip hard, drawing blood on my dehydrated lips.

I know I must quickly cut the nest before my plan backfires and all the Tracker Jackers start coming after me. I wave my hand to try and rid another Tracker Jackers bite, but failed miserably the third sting hits me right on my neck, just below my ear.

I bit my lip again.

Knowing I couldn't take much more.

I was so close, though, just a little longer…

**-Cato POV:**

I took my sword and water bottle to the lake; I knew Katniss would be cutting the nest down soon.

The sun was bright and was rising over the horizon.

I dipped my water jug in the water and drank slowly. I was a nervous wreck, I mean, what if Katniss doesn't make it out? I would probably commit suicide something.

This is absolutely crazy, I just met Katniss and I feel like I've know her my whole life.

I think I may—

"Aaaah!" It was a male, must've been Marvel.

"Get to the Lake!" that one was Clove.

"CATO! HELP ME!" Pretty sure that was Glimmer.

I put on the best shocked look I had.

When they got to the lake, they had stings everywhere. There were only two of them, Clove and Marvel…

"Damn it!" I curse loudly. I push them into the lake and the stupid Tracker Jackers follow them in and die instantly, but that still doesn't help their stings…they're probably already having hallucinations.

After the last of the Tracker Jacker humming stop, I quickly grabbed my sword and run back toward to the forest.

I heard a 'BOOM' and I jumped, praying that the cannon wasn't for Katniss.

What if Glimmer and lover boy teamed up on her and I wasn't there? What if the Tracker Jackers stung her too many times and she died? How would I cope?

My heart was beating loudly in my chest and my breathing was uneven, but still, I kept running…I had to know…

When I got back to the tree I saw a deformed body. I ran over thinking it was Katniss, but as I got closer the figure had blonde hair.

_Glimmer_

"Katniss get out of here! What are you doing? Go!" That was lover boy, he was the one helping Katniss…It was supposed to be _me._ I'm the one that's supposed to be there for her, not _him._

I see red, I don't hear, I don't think…I just act.

I pull out my sword and run behind lover boy. He hears me just in time and he dodges my attack.

With all my force I try and swing at him again, ignoring Katniss' scream for us to stop.

"I'll kill you!" I screamed but he punched me in the face and I stumbled backwards.

The hit was supposed to do more damage then it really did, because I recovered quicker then he expected.

He didn't have a backup plan so he tried to run…

I put all my remaining strength into the last blow.

I would've hit him in a more fatal spot but I cut his thigh deep, he won't live too much longer, I suppose.

He screamed loudly and fell face down on his stomach.

I looked over at Katniss, and I almost wish I hadn't. The look on her face was that of _shock, terror, hatred…_

The terror seemed to overlap every other emotion.

She looked at me and started shaking her head, her mouth halfway open, like she couldn't believe what was happening. She blinks her eyes, as if trying to 'wake up' from this _hallucination._

"Katniss—" She started backing up and then turned and ran away from me.

I left Lover boy lying there screaming in pain and ran after Katniss.

"Katniss," I screamed over and over again but each time she would scream at me to leave her alone, and calling me a monster.

I couldn't run anymore…I couldn't…I was exhausted from fighting lover boy and all this running.

I let her slip through my fingers…

I collapsed on my knees and put my hands on my head. I closed my eyes tight and opened them hoping this was nothing more than a nightmare.

I knew I was in danger of getting killed, just lying here like this, but I didn't care…

Let them find me…I have nothing more to live for anyway…not now…

I call out Katniss' name once more before I blacked out…wishing upon death…..

**-I'M SOO SORRY GUYS! I WAS HELPING MY GRADMOTHER MOVE AND IT WAS HARD TRYING TO TYPE THIS! SHE IS THE WORST PACKER EVER! SHE TAKES THINGS OUT OF EVERY ROOM INSTEAD OF JUST DOING ONE ROOM AT A TIME. LOL. THEN WE HAD TO UNPACK EVERYTHING AND NOW I'M FINALLY BACK HOME _SAFE AND SOUND_, HAHA!**

**I ALSO HAD THE WRITER'S BLOCK WHILE WRITING THIS :/**

**SO I APOLOGISE AGAIN FOR THE _TERRIBLE _CHAPTER, THE NEXT ONE WILL BE HOPEFULLY BETTER.**

**AND I HOPE TO GET THE NEXT CHAPTER UP SOONER...I LOVE YOU ALL :)**

**BYE MY FRIENDS! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hate To Love You

Chapter 4: _"Real"_

Gale's POV (short)

_Catnip…._

It's funny; usually I'm able to read _Katniss_ like the back of my hand, but now…it's almost like our "communication forces" have been disconnected.

I feel _lost _at her thinking, I can't actually read her anymore…and that's strange because we have been hunting partners for years. Maybe that's what she's trying to accomplish, if I can't read her moves then that just might make her more unpredictable.

I'm on the edge of my seat now as the careers chase her up a tree. There's no way she'll make it out of this one…not after her leg was severely burned by the capitol's man-made forest fire.

But of course, Catnip outsmarts them again. She's light and defiantly faster than the rest of the careers, so she climbs the tree like a squirrel, not stopping until she's sure she's up far enough.

_That's my Catnip…_

I can't help but smile at her tactics, and here it is I had almost given up. I chuckle to myself as everyone else in the hob shouts compliments at the screen.

She'll defiantly come home as victor.

Once nightfall hits, and the Hob is closing, I say my goodbye's and quickly run home so I wouldn't miss that much.

It ended up taking longer than expected, since I stopped by Ms. Everdeen's to give her some things that I traded.

Once I reach the broken-down front porch of the house, I am out of breath.

Surprisingly my mother greets me at the door, but she looks almost scared of something…I hope catnip's alright.

"Gale…" She hugs me tightly and I'm beginning to think the worst…I've lost my hunting partner and Best friend.

"Mom is something—" Then I see it. I drop my hunting gear on the floor and slide down the wall. That's it…I've lost her…

I feel my whole family starring at me, so I run…I run out of district 12 and into the forest, _our_ forest…to our meeting place, the rock.

I shouldn't be so upset, when Peeta announced his love for her…I wasn't this upset, so why now?

Because, she really didn't love Peeta, I still stood a chance, but this time…it was different, she actually _wanted_ to kiss _Cato_. The very thought of his name sends heat waves toward me and I start breathing heavily. I loved her for years and now….

I don't stand a chance against him…

I've truly lost her; even if she does win, she won't love me…her heart will be still with him.

I bury my face in my palms and squeeze my face with my nails. I curse myself…I curse the capitol, I curse _him,_ but most importantly, I curse _Katniss_…

Haymitch POV: _Mentor Center_

I take sip of liquor. The whole Star-crossed lovers act between Katniss and Peeta is over.

I can't believe sweetheart would do something like this…I thought she would win this…but now it seems that we were wrong, everyone who believed in her.

She betrayed us…she betrayed me…Peeta, and on a much larger scale…the whole district.

Peeta's dead meat, there is no way I can send him medicine for the sword cut that Cato gave him, because all of Peeta's sponsors transferred their money either to Katniss or that district two tribute, _Cato._

I feel district 2's mentor Brutus looking at me, so I turn around and face him.

"Lets go outside, Haymitch…now." He tells me rising from his seat.

I nod and quickly follow; I have a bone to pick with him…

"What the hell is going on, Brutus?" I say, once I'm sure we're alone.

"I'm not a fan of you or your tribute, twelve," he starts and I want to kill him for doing this to Katniss, but instead I let him finish…I want to have a good reason for sending his ass to the grave, "But I'm just as lost as you, I have no idea what they're planning."

"He's just going to kill her in the end! This was a dirty trick-!"

"Come on now, Haymitch. It is the hunger games after all, there's only one winner right?"

"Yeah, and it's going to be Katniss." I say and turn to walk away, but Brutus catches my shoulder.

We stare at each other for a moment, almost daring the other to move.

"Oh, and for the record…I think it's _real_…" He say's and pushes past me, leaving me to cogitate.

Katniss POV

_In the arena:_

I slowly begin to regain consciousness and I feel something spongy on my neck and wrist.

I am lying under a tree and a bow and arrow is at my side. It's hard to tell if this is a hallucination or not, because I've been having them off and on for I don't know how long.

When my eye's finally begin to focus some more, I see that the spongy thing on my neck and wrists are actually tree leaves.

Someone must've put this on me to suck out the venom from the stings. My mind quickly goes to Cato, but I realize that it couldn't have been him; he'd never leave the Career's…not even for me.

A pain hits me hard in the chest after I remembered what he did to Peeta…

He could've _killed_ him, he's probably already dead.

I hear some noises behind the tree and I immediately know who helped me.

_Rue…_

I slowly rise to my feet, still feeling weak from my black out and hallucinations.

I notice the bow and arrows that I took from Glimmer after the Tracker Jacker nest fell on her and killed her slowly.

I walk over to the tree that Rue was hiding behind; I could see her bushy hair poking out beside the tree. I decide that it was best to put on a smile, that way she'd know, I mean no harm.

"Rue? It's okay…I'm not going to hurt you." I can see the terror in her eyes.

I kneel down to her eye level, like I had done many times with Prim.

"Hey…you're going to be okay. We can hunt, for food."

I hold out my hand, hoping she'll take it. It seems for a moment like she'd reject it, in fact, I almost want to beg her to take my hand. She reminds me so much of Prim that it's almost like I _need_ her in this arena. She reminds me that my baby sister is watching…the one who I miss most…the one who I promised I would return…the one who inspired me to promise myself that I wouldn't let this _change_ me.

Rue brings back all of these thoughts that I had worked hard to forget, but at the same time it's as if she is my determination, just like Prim.

I feel Rue's tiny fingers curl up into mine, and I smile. At that exact moment, I think why I wanted to ally myself with Rue, it's not as complex as I thought…it's very simple actually…this small girl, reminds me of who _I _am as a person. As long as Rue's around…I won't lose myself either.

_LATER THAT DAY…_

Rue and I were eating our dinner, I was able to hunt and kill some birds, since I finally had a bow.

Rue's one of the most adorable 12 year olds I've ever seen.

She eats very slowly as if she's savoring the taste.

"You can have mine too." I say to her.

She shakes her head, "No that's okay…" she says shyly.

"Here." I take the bird leg off my plate and pass it over to her.

She smiles, making me smile too.

"Hey, Katniss…do you really like Cato? I thought you we're in love with Peeta?"

I laugh softly, tickling her in the process.

"I do love Peeta, just not in the way everyone thinks…as for Cato, I liked him but he was a bad—tickle—bad—tickle—bad boy." I tickle her in between words to try and make some fun out of this conversation.

Rue, was now hysterical, which caused me to laugh with her.

"Speaking of Cato…where is he?" I asked once our laughter died down.

"He's with the careers; they have this huge camp set up with all their supplies stacked into this big pyramid."

I look down at her bright brown innocent eyes and smile.

"That sounds tempting…"

_Cato POV:_

It had been at least three days since I have seen Katniss. The only reason why I knew she was alive was because of the anthem at night, her face never appeared in the sky, which meant she was still out there somewhere.

After Katniss ran away from me I passed out from being exhausted. I woke up with Marvel in my face, defiantly not who I had in mind, but it's good to know he had my back. I had convinced Clove, and Marvel to help me hunt for Katniss…since Glimmer died. I know it was a dumb idea, but it's apart of my overall plan which no one knows yet…not one.

"Cato! We've been searching for hours! I don't think we're going to find her!" Clove practically screamed at me.

"Will you shut up?! We _are_ going to find her!" I screamed back at her.

Clove looks shocked for a moment then pulls out one of her knives.

"Hey, I'm tired of looking for your _girlfriend_…if you want to look for her, do it by yourself…but know this, if you walk away from us_, ever_, I won't hesitate to kill you or her…" her eyes are insanely dark and I know for a fact, she's not playing around.

Before I can say anything back, Marvel yells and points at something in the distance, where our camp was.

It was smoke, which meant our camp was on fire.

"Damn district 3!" I hear Clove yelling, and I'm just standing there as they run off…they probably think I'm behind them. The truth is…I never planned on following them.

I spoke to Rue…we made a plan around the one that Katniss had made with her to blow up the careers supplies'.

As of now, I am no longer a Career. Katniss doesn't know about this yet, she'll probably want to kill me on sight. Luckily Rue will be there to try and settle things between me and _my_ Katniss.

I wave my sword in my hand as I walk, swishing it from side to side.

I hate to admit it, but Rue is starting to grow on me.

I hear something ahead of me, and decide to lay low…for now.

To my surprise, it's Rue and Katniss. Katniss has her bow in her hands and she's giving Rue a hug.

Rue has tears in her eyes, I think something happened.

"Hey…Rue, you're going to be fine...it was just a little scare, you're with me now…"

She nods her head and gives Katniss another hug.

"Come on Rue, we need some food for dinner." She smiles and turns to leave with Rue's hand tangled together with her own.

I realize it's now or never. I can't just let her walk away like that, not after I've come this far to be with her.

So I step out from behind the bushes.

"Katniss…" She stiffens at the sound of my voice. Everything else happened in a blur.

She pushes Rue behind her and loads her bow. I drop my sword and put my hands up above my head.

"I didn't come for a fight…" I tell her.

"Then why are you here? You've done nothing but stir up trouble." She says through clenched teeth.

"I left the Careers." I say simply, and she lowers her bow.

"Yeah right, I don't believe you…" She raises her bow again, maybe as an attempt to scare me. Could she really kill me?

_Yes…_ I know she'd do anything to protect Rue.

"It's true!" Rue exclaimed from behind Katniss.

"Rue? What are you talking about?" Katniss asks her, never lowering her bow that was aimed directly at my heart.

"I wanted you two to be together, I found Cato at the career's camp…he was keeping watch while his partner and the other boy were sleeping…I told him our plan, so today he led the Career's away from the camp to avoid you from running into one of them."

I look into Katniss' eyes…she's concentrating hard on everything that we just told her.

She met my gaze and I remember why I grew a weak spot for her.

_Those eyes._

They're mesmerizing. That's when I realize…it is _real_, it always was…

"It's _real_ Katniss, I do love you...and I'm sorry about Peeta. I was just mad about him helping you…I thought it should've been me."

Katniss looks deep in thought. She might be analyzing everything I said. She lowered her bow and her mouth was open slightly. Rue's smiling and giving me the thumbs up from behind Katniss.

It's true though, I do love her…and at least Peeta isn't dead.

Katniss drops her bow beside Rue and starts walking over to me.

She stops in front of me, we're dangerously close. I reach out to softly touch her cheek.

"For _real_?" She whispers to me.

I look at her again, and I know exactly want to say.

"_Always…_" I say to her and she leans in and presses her soft lips to mine and we melt into a paradise, so unlike our surroundings.

_Gale POV:_

I looked at the T.V screen with a blank face.

She loves him, there is nothing here for me any more…I raise the knife to my wrist and shut my eyes…

Goodbye Katniss.


	5. Chapter 5

Hate to Love You

Chapter 5:

_Goodbye, Katniss..._

_Peeta Pov_:

Pain...that's all I can feel...

I've camouflaged myself in order to hide from possible predators like the Careers. My mind shifts to Katniss. I know she loved me...the look on her face after Cato stabbed me, she still cares.

'_But if she loved you...she would've found you by now, she would've come looking days ago,' _I think trying to understand what Katniss' motive really is.

The way he chased after her...calling her_ Katniss _and not "firegirl" made me think that there was something else going on between the two of them.

I balled up my fists thinking that could be true...why else wouldn't she have come looking?

My chest starts to tighten and I find it difficult to breathe.

In the end...I wasn't able to protect Katniss, I'll have to watch from the sidelines, no matter how much I want to intervene...to help...I know I have to sit and wait it out, she has to make her own mistakes...and hopefully she'll realize that Cato is the worst mistake for her, and return to loving me.

Before I knew it tears were flowing out of my eyes like a waterfall.

If there is one thing I learned from expressing my feelings for her is that I shouldn't ever tell anybody anything...because once I do, it's hard to let go and I continue to hold on to something that's not there...

If only she knew...

_District 12_

_Prim POV:_

"Mom? What's wrong with Gale? Is he going to be okay?" I may only be twelve, but I know Gale, he's been around for some time. I basically grew up grew up with his brother Rory.

My mom kneels down eye level for me.

"Oh Prim," she runs her hand through my blonde hair, so much like her own.

I know she doesn't want to tell me, she thinks she can get out of it by treating me like a kid.

"Mom, I asked what's wrong with Gale." she looks me deep in my blue eyes and I stare back, I'm not backing out of this one.

"Right. Gale's going through a tough time with Katniss being at the games, especially now since her and the district two tribute seem to be in love." She tells me.

"He tried to kill himself, didn't he?" I ask looking down at my feet. I want nothing more than for her to smile and tell me it's not true...

"Yes. He nearly did." she says to me, pulling me close to her.

"Katniss-" I start but was cut off by my mother.

"When Katniss comes back she cannot find out...Gale asked that she didn't, he said it was better that way."

My eyes widened in shock. "But...Katniss and Gale tell each other everything..." I say a tear falls down my cheek.

"I know...but it's Gale's wishes." she smiles reassuringly at me.

_Arena_

_Katniss POV:_

_Cato_...

I think I love him, but I'm not sure...I've never been in love before...

_Prim_

The only person I'm certain I love...I made a promise to her and now I have fallen in love with my sworn enemy.

I think I do love him. I remember that night in the tracker jacker tree when he kissed me...for just a split second I remember thinking that I was going to die for Cato, because life without him would be too hard, but that meant not keeping my promise to Prim so I pushed the thought from my mind.

Now watching him in the cave the three of us found...he looks like an angel sleeping it's as if he forgot we were in the Hunger Games...

It has been his turn to keep watch hours ago, but I decided to let him sleep because I knew that as soon as he woke, his peaceful features would be replaced with a harder...more monstrous expression.

I look down close to my stomach.

Rue is sound asleep too, right in between the both of us. _Ha. _It's funny, I never wanted kids because of the whole Hunger Games, but with Rue in between us and Cato and I sleeping on both sides of her as if we are protecting her, it seems like we're really close to a family...a real family.

My eyes start to close and I smile thinking how peaceful we all must look right now.

But of course we're in the Hunger Games and nothing can ever stay peaceful...not even for us...

"Clove...I found footprints!" I hear the Marvel yell to Clove, they're close.

"Cato! Wake up, grab Rue, we have to move!" I whisper to him.

He wakes up immediately and as I said earlier, his face is anything but peaceful now.

"I'll get my bow. Just take Rue!" I say to him in a voice full of panic.

By this time though, Rue had already awakened.

"Rue, the careers are close, I need you to do whatever I say as soon as I say it okay?"

even though she looks scared she still nods her head.

"Katniss you and Rue make a run for it, I'll take care of them." Cato says grabbing his sword.

I nod and grab my bow.

Rue and I hold hands preparing for are run.

"Be careful Cato...and remember I-" He cuts me off by kissing me briefly on the lips.

He pulls away, telling me to go and he'd find us later.

He tells Rue goodbye and flashes a smile at us before I turned and darted out of the cave.

The light from outside was almost blinding, but still we kept running. We've been running for a while it seems. I knew I could outrun the Careers if they were chasing us, but Rue would have the problem because her legs are much smaller. _She can jump from tree to tree though. _I think. I look over my shoulder for any pursuers.

There is no one chasing us so I stop and pull Rue aside.

"Rue, I'm going to go back to Cato. I want you to climb that tree and stay there until I get back, _don't_ come down until you know it's me. We can do the Mockingjay whistle. I'll whistle when it's safe to come down, okay? " I kneel down to her once I see her scared face.

"Hey, It's going to be fine. Take this, so you know I'll come back for you." I hold out my gold Mockingjay pin in the palm of my hand.

"Okay..." she hesitantly reaches out and takes the gold pin, which makes me smile.

"Don't worry, I'll see you for supper." I pull her in and place a soft kiss on her forehead much like I do with Prim.

I watch her dart up the tree before I take off running back to the cave where I left Cato.

I'm halfway back to the cave when I hear the last thing I ever wanted to hear.

Rue _screaming_ my name.

"_Katniss! Katniss help_!"

I ran quickly, as fast as I've ran in my entire life.

_Please don't be too late...Please. _Is all I kept thinking while I was running.

Once I finally find her...I swear my heart_ stops_.

There she is, her beautiful small frame lying in the meadow.

Everything seems so peaceful...

I run over.

"Rue?" I call.

She coughs in response.

That's when I see it...two knives stuck in her, one in her chest the other in her stomach.

I start to panic and drop on my knees

"Rue! Please don't die...You can't..." I realize my words are probably coming as muffled sobs.  
I analyze her wounds, the knives are too deep. If I took them out now she would suffer even more.

"K—Katniss?" She says softly. I almost didn't hear her.

"Rue...I'm sorry, please please forgive me..." I say.

Rue, even in this position is still smiling, it might be forced but I'd never know either way.

She coughs again.

She's trying to say something.

"sshh.."

But she shakes her head.

"Kat—Katniss...you have to win." I notice her hand is in mine and she puts my Mockingjay pin back in my hand. I cry harder.

"Can you sing?"

I nod, "Of course..."

Rue smiles as I began to sing.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when you awake, the sun will rise._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you._

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray, Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you._

"Katniss...It doesn't hurt anymore..." She whispers and that's the last time I hear her voice before her eyes turn lifeless and her hand goes limp in mine.

I kiss her forehead for the last time.

'_BOOM_' the cannon fires signaling Rue's official death.

I look down and let the tears fall, landing on Rue's face making it seem as if she had been crying too.

I pull the knives out of her body carefully and zip up her jacket, hiding her wounds.

She really does look peaceful as if she was sleeping.

When she told me it doesn't hurt anymore I hope it was true...god I do.

I throw the knives in the tree on the other side of the meadow, and scream.

If the capitol wants us to kill each other that's what they'll get...but at least I know even when the whole world turns into shit, I didn't let it take me down with it.

With a look of determination on my face I began to pull out flowers of all sorts of colors and plant them next to Rue.

I look at her once last time before I turn around facing where I know the camera is hidden.

I place three fingers to my lips and raise it high towards the camera.

It's the perfect act of defiance and I know it.

For district 11. I'm acknowledging them personally.

_Katniss Pov: hours later..._

It's nightfall and there still is no sign of Cato, but his face didn't appear on the anthem...maybe he's still chasing the careers. _Clove..._I never actually hated someone more...it was her who killed Rue and I know it.

Marvel's face did appear in the sky that night which means Cato did find at least one of them.

I hear a parachute coming down...it's from the sponsors.

When I open the container attached to the parachute it was a loaf of bread and toasted into the bread it had two simple letters.

_P.M. _ I look at the letters and immediately I know what Haymitch wants me to do...he wants me to find Peeta.

_Peeta POV:_

It's another day gone by and still no one has found me...I'm not sure if I'm happy that I am still alive or upset because the love of my life hasn't found me yet.

What's that? I hear a noise...like footsteps.

Good. Hopefully someone has come to put me out of my misery...

"_Peeta?_!" It's her...Katniss...

I hear her stepping out of the water.

"You here to finish me off sweetheart?" I say.

"Peeta? Where are you?"

She looks around and takes a step forward.

"Well don't step on me..." I smirk.

She jumps back.

I open my eyes and look to find her beautiful gray eyes looking down at me.

"Peeta..." she whispers.

Once I'm out of my camouflage, Katniss start's examining my leg.

_Katniss POV:_

"I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off." Peeta smiles.

"Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying."

"You're not going to die," I tell him firmly. "Says who?"

"Says me," I tell him.

His eyes open. "Nice of you to find what's left of me."

I pull out my water bottle and give him a drink. "Where did Cato cut you?" I ask.

"Left leg. Up high," he answers.

"Let's get you in the stream, wash you off so I can see what kind of wounds you've got," I say.

"Lean down a minute first," he says. "Need to tell you something." I lean over and put my good ear to his lips, which tickle as he whispers.

"Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it." I jerk my head back but end up laughing.

"Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." I can't possibly tell him about Cato and I...not now...

Luckily, he stops talking and I'm able to push him to a few feet to the river.

"You must be hungry." I try to give him some fruit.

"Not really. It's funny, I haven't been hungry for days," says Peeta. He wrinkles his nose at it and turns away. That's when I know how sick he is.

"Peeta, we need to get some food in you," I insist.

"It'll just come right back up," he says. The best I can do is to get him to eat a few bits of dried apple. "Thanks. I'm much better, really. Can I sleep now, Katniss?" he asks.

"Soon," I promise. "I need to look at your leg first."

Trying to be as gentle as I can, I remove his boots, his socks, and then very slowly inch his pants off of him. I can see the tear Cato's sword made in the fabric over his thigh, but it in no way prepares me for what lies underneath. The deep inflamed gash oozing both blood and pus. The swelling of the leg. And worst of all, the smell of festering flesh. I want to run away. Disappear into the woods like I did that day they brought the burn victim to our house. Go and hunt while my mother and Prim attend to what I have neither the skill nor the courage to face. But there's no one here but me. I try to capture the calm demeanor my mother assumes when handling particularly bad cases.

"Pretty awful, huh?" says Peeta. He's watching me closely.

"So-so." I shrug like it's no big deal. "You should see some of the people they bring my mother from the mines." I refrain from saying how I usually clear out of the house whenever she's treating anything worse than a cold. Come to think of it, I don't even much like to be around coughing. "First thing is to clean it well." I've left on Peeta's undershorts because they're not in bad shape and I don't want to pull them over the swollen thigh and, all right, maybe the idea of him being naked makes me uncomfortable. That's another thing about my mother and Prim. Nakedness has no effect on them, gives them no cause for embarrassment. Ironically, at this point in the Games, my little sister would be of far more use to Peeta than I am. I scoot my square of plastic under him so I can wash down the rest of him.

With each bottle I pour over him, the worse the wound looks. The rest of his lower body has fared pretty well, just one tracker jacker sting and a few small burns that I treat quickly. But the gash on his leg . . . what on earth can I do for that?

"Why don't we give it some air and then . . ." I trail off.

"And then you'll patch it up?" says Peeta. He looks almost sorry for me, as if he knows how lost I am.

"That's right," I say. "In the meantime, you eat these." I put a few dried pear halves in his hand and go back in the stream to wash the rest of his clothes. When they're flattened out and drying, I examine the contents of the first-aid kit. It's pretty basic stuff. Bandages, fever pills, medicine to calm stomachs. Nothing of the caliber I'll need to treat Peeta.

"We're going to have to experiment some," I admit. I know the tracker jacker leaves draw out infection, so I start with those.

Within minutes of pressing the handful of chewed-up green stuff into the wound, pus begins

running down the side of his leg. I tell myself this is a good thing and bite the inside of my cheek hard because my breakfast is threatening to make a reappearance.

"Katniss?" Peeta says. I meet his eyes, knowing my face must be some shade of green. He mouths the words. "How about that kiss?"

I burst out laughing because the whole thing is so revolting I can't stand it.

"Something wrong?" he asks a little too innocently.

"Peeta...I-"

"_Attention tributes. There will be a feast tomorrow at dawn at the Cornucopia...each of you needs something, and we want to be...generous hosts...tomorrow at dawn." _The voice on the speaker cuts off and me and Peeta look at each other.

"It has to be your medicine." I say.

Peeta doesn't say anything. So I swallow hard and continue to clean the pus out of his wound, then I helped him up and told him to put all of his weight on me so we can find the cave Cato, Rue and I were once in.

The area is empty so it is safe to go inside. It's hard going back in here...this was the last place I was with Rue before she...before she died.

I decide not to focus on that and focus on getting Peeta's medicine.

"If I leave now...i should be at the cornucopia by dawn." I tell Peeta.

"No. I can't let you go.." he say's and I actually feel myself getting annoyed.

"Peeta I'm going..." I saw reaching for my bow. Peeta grabs my hand.

"You would do it for me...wouldn't you?" Peeta looks defeated.

"Why are you doing this?" he asks me shaking his head.

Then I lean in and kiss him...

I don't know why I did it...I just did. It wasn't a long kiss like the ones I shared with Cato but a much softer more friendlier kiss.

It lasted a second before I pulled away. "I'm going Peeta..."

He's still dumbfounded from the kiss so he doesn't object.

_Cato POV:_

Damn Clove! She had Marvel separate me from Katniss and Rue and now...Rue...Rue's gone...

I've been searching forever for Katniss...I hope I'll reunite with her tomorrow at the feast.

I've been weakened tremendously though, Clove threw a knife right at my bicep, it wasn't in deep so I just pulled it out. And wrapped it in bandages. It still hurts like hell though.

I decide I'm already close enough to the cornucopia so I can take this time to rest...

_Next day Dawn, cornucopia:_

I'm waiting in the bushes for any sign of Katniss. I see the redhead district 5 run out.

She is in and out at the speed of light. No one even noticed her.

Then I see her...Katniss.

Oh shit! Clove! She thew a knife and it scraped the top of her forehead.

"Clove!" Katniss screamed dropping her bow and charging at Clove.

They roll on the ground, at first Katniss is on top and she punched Clove in the face.

Then Clove rolls over so that she is on top of Katniss and then she takes out a knife and holds it to Katniss' neck.

Now it's time to intervene  
"Aww...little firegirl still upset over me killing Rue?" I hear Clove say.

_She killed Rue!_

I see nothing else but red. I charge at Clove and pull her off of Katniss.

She looks startled by my appearance.

"You killed Rue?!" I scream at her shaking her violently. She shakes her head.

"I heard you...you can't run away now Clove."

I muster up all of the remaining strength I had with my good arm and I slammed her head into the side of the steel cornucopia. The canon sounds.

Clove is dead.

There are only five of us left. _Thresh, the district 5 girl, Katniss, Loverboy, and myself._

"Katniss...I.."

"Don't. I'm not mad." She says.

"There are only five of us left..." I say looking down at my feet.

"I know..." she sounded sad.

"Katniss...I'm going to finish off Thresh. Meet me back here by nightfall." I give her a quick kiss and hug her tightly...this may be the last time I get to hug her.

"Okay. Be careful Cato."

"Don't worry...he won't get rid of me easy..." I flash my cocky smirk and she smiles in return.

"So see you at nightfall..." I smile and kiss her one last time.

"I'll see you then..." she says after we pull away from our kiss.

She turn and begins running away and I do the same but only in the opposite direction.

_Katniss POV:_

Once I arrived back, Peeta was sound asleep.

"Peeta. I have your medicine." he jots awake at the sound of my voice.

"Katniss...what happened to your forehead? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine...what's more important is that you have your medicine for your leg."

I take it out of the bag and pull of the small container of ointment.

I rub it carefully on Peeta's leg.

"It feels a lot better now..." he says.

"Now it's your turn." he take the the remaining ointment and rubs it on my forehead.

We lock eyes. I smile sadly. Maybe...if there were no games...no starving...and I never met Cato...maybe we would've been together for real. Just maybe...

_An hour later:_

Me and Peeta were now finding food to eat...he scares everything away before he even gets close because of his loud footsteps. So, I sent him to find fruit or edible plants.

I was just about to shoot a rabbit when I heard a canon.

I look around for Peeta and find a bunch of _Nightlock _berries by his jacket.

I panic.

"Peeta?!" No answer. I run.

"Peeta!" I bump into something and I relax... it's Peeta.

I realize he has nightlock in his hands.

"I heard the cannon! That's a nightlock Peeta, you'll be dead in a minute!" I snatch them out his hand.

"You scared me to death...damn you!" I give him a hug. I'm just glad he's alive. I don't need another persons blood on my hands.

I look and see foxface dead on the ground with nightlock berries in her hand.

I take a bunch of the berries without Peeta noticing.

"I didn't even know she was following me..." Peeta says.

I nod. "Yes, she was clever."

We walk away from her body in order to give the capitol time to clean out her body.

As we walk I notice it getting darker, and I imagine that the Gamemakers turning down the light just in time for the grand finale...

"Katniss what time is it?" he asks looking around at the now dark sky.

"Barely after noon. The gamemakers must be trying to end this now."

_BOOM!_

_I jump_ and pray that it was not Cato. I look up in the sky and see Thresh's face.

"Only three of us left now..." I sound unhappy because I am, but I can't help but feel glad that Cato didn't die.

Howling...they're sending the mutts! Peeta heard it too because we both start running.

One mutt jumps out of the trees and tackles Peeta.

I don't hesitate. I shoot the mutt directly in the head. It dissolved into the ground.

I ran towards Peeta to help him up.

"Peeta we have to run to the cornucopia!" I scream.

There are more mutts headed our way from behind us, so he and I both start running.

It's hard to see in the dark...I kept running into things, but luckily I could see the tree enough to know where to run to avoid them.

When we arrived at the cornucopia, Peeta helped me climb on first.

I turn around to help him up. He's halfway there and then his hand slips. I grab hold of him.

"Peeta! Pull yourself up I can't...I can't..." I look at one of the mutts.

_Rue. T_he mutt has her eyes...the capitol used _her _eyes!

There's a difference though...the mutt's eyes were malicious...so unlike Rue's bright, soft eyes.

I feel Peeta's hand slipping. "No! Peeta!" I scream.

Before he could fall another pain of hands grab his hands much stronger hands.

_Cato._

He tried to pull him up...but his right arm started bleeding through the bandages.

He held on to him...come on Cato, just a little more. Cato's arm is making him wince. I try to help him but my strength is useless.

"Just let go, Cato..." Peeta says. My eyes widened, after everything we've been through...he wants to give up.

"No Peeta!" I scream.

"Katniss...there's only one winner...and either way...it has to be one of you...I'm not fit to be their victor."

"Cato, let go!" Peeta yells, but Cato doesn't listen...he's still trying to pull him up.

He locks eyes with me, and mouths the words. _"Goodbye, Katniss..."_ then he yanks his arm free of Cato's grasp falling to the mutts. The fall seemed like it happened in slow motion as I screamed and he fell to the mutts who piled up on him and continuously bit him like a horde of zombies.

"Shoot me! Please!" I hear Peeta's plea. My face is tear streaked. Cato comes over and put his hand on my shoulder. "End it...he wants you to." he whispers in my ear.

Peeta's screams continue as the mutts devour him.

I nod, load my arrow and shoot.

Right in the chest.

_BOOM! _Peeta's dead. Peeta's dead and it's all my fault.

The darkness fades away and the mutts disappear. No part of Peeta's body is left.

Nothing.

I stood there, looking at the spot in which he had died, crying and not moving.

"End it..." Cato tells me again. "They have to have there victor...and it's going to be you."

"No. They don't." I throw my bow down and and walk over to him...pulling out the nightlock berries.

_Cato POV:_

"No. They don't." she walks over to me pulling out berries.

_Nightlock!_

"Katniss no! You have to win this!"

"Trust me." she says and looks me in the eyes and I'm not looking at the same eyes I fell in love with...her eyes almost look dead...she's been through so much...I want to be there for her...forever...and if the only way to accomplish that is through death, then I'll do it.

"Together?" I ask.

"Together." she confirms.

She puts a handful of berries in my hand.

"one.." I say I look at her hair and I want to touch it again. I reach out and touch her beautiful soft brown hair.

"Two..." She says and then she leans in and kisses me when she pulls away I smile.

"I love you, Katniss..."

she looks at me likes she's going to cry.

"I love you too...Cato."

I close my eyes trying to make her voice the last thing I remember.

"Three..." we both say at once.

We both raise our arms and put the berries in our mouths.

"_WAIT! STOP!" _I spit out the berries and so does Katniss.

"_Ladies and gentlemen my I present the winners of the 74__th__ annual Hunger Games! Cato Anderson and Katniss Everdeen!"_

We did it..._we _did it. We won. I look at Katniss once more before the hovercraft comes down and forces us to go our separate ways for our prep teams to fix us up and make us presentable for the interviews in a few days...

_**Author's note:**_

_**I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed this story. I know this chapter was crap. But it's not the end so it will get better. I made the games end here because I simply didn't have an interest to drag them on. I did borrow some of Suzanne Collins work from the book to help with describing Peeta's leg and Katniss' emotions toward it. The reason why It took so long to update is because of the fact that HIGH SCHOOL KILLS YOUR B RRAIN! YOU CAN'T WRITE WHAT YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT BECAUSE IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURRICULUM. ALL THE ESSAY'S, STARDARDIZED TESTING, HOMEWORK, IT'S LIKE THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO BE CREATIVE WITH ANYTHING! Lol.**_


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